


Unceremonious

by orphan_account



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Oneshot, smorch, these boys sure are angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It is over.Finally.And yet thefinalityhas not quite settled.





	Unceremonious

**Author's Note:**

> where has les mis been all my life (aka how did my dumb ass not fall in love with it sooner). and ofc the only logical obsession is these two boys. so here's a rando little one shot, lemme know if it's any good~

He stands like a specter never would but is one all the same - sallow, desolate, yet bold despite his sufferings, only just wavering as he drags his eyes from their fixation on the damp floor and meets Javert’s own.

 

“Here,” the Inspector orders, gesturing with a slight inclination of his chin to a spot just behind the bars of the cell so the men might be distanced by no more than a few inches.

 

Valjean dares to hesitate, then thinks better as Javert, under the pretense of inspecting its dark complexion, reveals his baton before reassembling his hands behind his back.

 

Proceeding without assumption, Valjean pauses where the Inspector had indicated and indeed there is scarcely room enough to breathe nevermind worry on all the ways the moment might escalate.

 

In fact, there are many, but Javert has come wielding only a single purpose.

 

After everything, the years of toiling in the hunt, both fox and hound, it felt, as his quarry’s elusiveness taunted him like a beast all its own, it had come to an end and no longer would Valjean haunt him.

 

It is over.

 

Finally.

 

And yet the _finality_ has not quite settled.

 

After _everything._

 

The _years_.

 

The _toil_.

 

It is all a bit... abrupt, so he has come tonight still seeking, though he will apprehend closure far sooner this time.

 

“My ignorance astounds me, now,” he says, “how I did not recognize your ruse.”

 

Neither man averts their expression, though they clash like ice and water. His is the latter, relaxed, the corners of his mouth cresting in a vague smile.

 

Valjean has not so much as blinked.

 

“All the good your status did you,” the Inspector continues, the air between them flinching with the smug bite of his tone. “And here you are again.

 

“Until the end, Valjean.”

 

His hand is swift, enough so that it wrenches an approximation of surprise from Valjean’s mouth as Javert grasps his collar and forces the man’s face as close as he has been anticipating.

 

The following ten seconds exist within their combined heartbeats, five elapsing as Valjean stares in confusion, another two as realization dawns like the sun on a condemned man’s final morning.

 

The final three as Javert closes the distance - the  _final_ nail in the hanged man’s coffin, and the kiss seals Valjean inside his fate.

 

Two.

 

One.

 

Javert releases him with adamancy, sending Valjean sprawling into a heap on the floor. There the Inspector hopes he might stay for the night and contemplate his transgressions, but it is no matter if he does or not. Justice had been promised, pursued, and fulfilled, and he will see no more to Valjean.

 

And as he turns on his heel, a last and lasting image of Valjean imprints behind his eyes, forever scoured in his memory should he ever care to revisit tonight.

 

“I will see to it that you rot here,” he says, and then says no more.

 

His footfalls linger long after he has departed, the dull echo of heel to toe beating like fists against the jail's walls.


End file.
